It doesn’t take much to get Methacton and Perkiomen Valley stoked for head-to-head athletic competition.

The neighboring Montgomery County school districts have conducted a spirited rivalry for decades — regardless of whether they are in the same league or different ones. That figures to rachet up the intensity level with the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship up for grabs.

“I’m expecting a big-time battle,” Methacton head coach Jeff Derstine said about the year’s third meeting between the Liberty Division front-runners, which will tip off 7 p.m. today at Spring-Ford. “The kids are excited about it.”

The Warriors, who won their first PAC-10 title last year with a one-point victory over Spring-Ford, will be looking to remain atop the circuit. The Vikings, back in the Final Four after a five-year absence, will be looking to maintain a surge resulting in them winning 14 of their last 15 games.

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“They (PV) have been playing great ever since,” Derstine said. “In the month of January, they played outstanding.”

“It’s going to be different,” Brendan Casper, a 1,000-point scorer his senior year with Methacton, added. “They (PV) are on a streak. It’s going to be fun.”

The finalists had different experiences when they opened the Final Four Saturday. While Perkiomen Valley (16-7) controlled Pope John Paul II en route to a 65-52 victory in the opener, Methacton (20-3) had a tighter time with Phoenixville before pulling out the nightcap, 53-51.

The Vikes, who had four players hit double figures on the day, went up by a 26-14 count at the half and held a 60-46 advantage with 26 seconds remaining. Steve Leonard led the way for PV with 20 points, Mekhi Clemons had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, Rasaan Stewart kicked in with 15 and Purnell Wilson added 12.

“We just go out and run on offense, and run on defense,” Clemons said afterward. “We just played up-tempo, really ... did what we needed to do. They didn’t really expect it.”

The Warriors, conversely, trailed Phoenixville after each of the first three quarters before going ahead with six straight points at the start of the fourth, 44-39. Zach Jenkins hit the ultimate game-winning basket with six seconds left, but the defending PAC-10 champions couldn’t put the victory in the books until a final try by the Phantoms missed at the buzzer.

Brendan Casper was high man for Methacton in both points (20) and rebounds (nine). Matt Forrest followed with 18 points, and Jenkins hit for 11 points while clearing eight boards, helping his club to a lopsided 31-14 advantage off the glass.

“We had to win the boards,” Casper said. “They (Phoenixville) were scrappy on the offensive boards, but we had size on them.”

Their first go-round on Dec. 18 saw Methacton, in the early stages of a win streak that would ultimately balloon to 12 games, post a 64-48 victory keyed by Casper’s 30-point outing. PV, in the meantime, was in the midst of a 2-6 start and four-game losing skid that carried into the winter holiday break.

But it was a different situation when they played again in late January. The Warriors, who go into the PAC-10 title game on the tailwind of six straight victories, had to rally for a 41-39 victory against a Viking unit that put together an 11-game win streak that moved it ahead of Spring-Ford for the second spot in the Liberty ranks.

“Perk Valley was playing really, really well,” Derstine said afterward. “We knew coming in that they were on a hot streak. We knew we would have to chip away, try to get a stop here, a stop there.”

Casper and Forrest, with their respective per-game points averages of 21.1 and 11.6, spark a Methacton offense that includes Jenkins (7.1 ppg), Joe Ruhl (4.6 ppg) and Anthony O’Brien (4.8 ppg). Forrest is one of the circuit’s more proficient 3-point shooters with 52, and Ruhl ranks among the leaders with another 25.

“We’ve been in a lot of close games at the end,” Derstine said, “and the kids have executed.”

PV has been bolstered by the offensive might of Leonard (12.5 ppg), the area’s leading 3-point producer with 56. Showing balance behind him and Wilson (11.9 ppg) are Stewart and Clemons (8.5 ppg) and Brett Davis (5.6 ppg).

“We’ve had one or two-point games at least once a week,” Derstine said. “We’re expecting the same Tuesday.”

NOTES

Methacton has already surpassed the 18-9 mark it achieved one year ago. The Warriors went from their inaugural PAC-10 title into the District 1 Class AAAA playoffs, where they opened with a victory over Springfield-Delco before being eliminated in successive losses to Chester and Pennsbury. ... Perkiomen Valley has effected considerable improvement over its previous campaign. The Vikings ended up with a 12-10 record, and out of consideration for a district berth, in what would be the end of former head coach Jim Stinger’s four-year tenure.